‘About nine years. I got a job with him not long after the company moved down here.’

‘Moved down from where?’ Imogen asked.

‘Shropshire, around ten years ago.’

‘That’s a long way to move. Do you know why?’ Imogen said, watching his face for any sign of reaction.

‘Sorry, no.’ Chilton said.

She believed him.

‘I bet you’ve seen some things over the years,’ Imogen said.

‘I can’t help you.’

‘It’s not us you would be helping. We could walk away; we don’t have enough evidence to prosecute. You could all go back to whatever is going on at that construction site, in that world you all live in. Until the next person dies … might even be you,’ Imogen said.

‘There’s nothing to tell.’ Jimmy squirmed.

‘How does a man like him get so powerful?’ Imogen said.

‘I don’t know what you want from me.’

‘I was talking to Leon Quick when he killed himself. Picked up a knife off his kitchen counter and stabbed himself in front of me because of something that happened while he was working for Corrigan Construction. Why would anyone do that to themselves without good reason? Considering how close Corrigan usually keeps you, I am going to bet you know a lot about the kind of things he does to people who cross him. How about I just tell him that you’ve decided to talk to us? I could go back there now and say you were giving us a statement,’ Imogen said.

She stared straight at Chilton, who was visibly sweating. She made a move for the front door.

‘Wait!’ Chilton said.

‘What is it?’ Imogen said.

‘Don’t. I don’t know anything. I’ve got nothing to do with any of it,’ Chilton said desperately.

‘If you don’t know anything then what exactly is it that you have nothing to do with?’ Imogen said, staring at him, making it almost impossible for him to look away.

‘I was away when Quick left. He didn’t get fired, though, that’s all I can tell you. Corrigan made me put that in his and Glover’s file. I made up all the stuff about them being shit workers, too. They weren’t. Glover did something that pissed Corrigan off. I swear, I don’t know what it was. I would wager it was something to do with Angela, though. She is a real trigger for his temper.’

‘So we’ve seen,’ Walsh said.

‘What about Leon Quick?’ Imogen said.

‘I really don’t know any specifics. But he left suddenly. I overheard Reece on the phone talking to someone about teaching him a lesson, though. I think all he did was make a couple of jokes that Reece didn’t approve of. If it was something else, then I didn’t hear about it. As for what lesson he taught him, I have no idea what it was.’